A Red Sun Rises
by JeffC FTW
Summary: The sun rises and sets every day, marking the end of one thing and the beginning of another. Dr. Bashir and Jadzia Dax's relationship meets new grounds and new challenges - if Worf NEVER came to Deep Space 9.
1. Opportunity

**This is my first time doing a Julian Bashir and Jadzia Dax story, so bear with me when I say she does NOT get involved with Worf in here. It was said by Ezri herself if Worf never came to DS9, then Dax and the good doctor would have been together. It's a bit of a challenge even though I am understanding the two and their cherished friendship - as well as how he had his crush on her when they first met but she didn't want to ruin their friendship, so he stopped pursuing her.**

 **Now it begs the question: what would have happened if the two had realized the depths of their feelings sooner at some point? Imagine if nothing happened to the Enterprise the way it did so that Worf NEVER came to Deep Space 9. This is not set after one specific point before season 4 where Bashir and Dax realized their feelings - well, Jadzia, especially - and got together; I usually know where to start to make the story work, so this time I will let my readers decide WHEN the couple fell in love for real. :D After that, the main plot of the story will do it justice.**

 **As everyone knows, Jadzia is seen as a role model to shy young girls who want to own themselves no matter anyone else trying to stop them. She's vibrant and passionate, intelligent, and everything that I myself feel. That kind of dedication I put into what I call my life's work. :)**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing of Star Trek or the characters.**

Chapter One

Opportunity

When they first met, they started out as best friends, but he seemed to see more in her than just a friend. She'd been well aware but had not wanted to go as far as to change the nature of their friendship. A wiser person would always say that once things got out of hand, you would never go back to being comfortable around each other, lose what meant most to you.

She hadn't wanted to lose that, so that was why she did not want Julian Bashir that way in the beginning.

And after awhile, he stopped chasing her altogether and agreed to remain friends.

Young Jadzia had been shy and quiet, growing up on Trill with her parents and sister, determined her entire life to be joined and having finally become an initiate and placed under the apprenticeship of the great Curzon Dax - a charming, powerful but difficult man who had secured peace between the Federation and the Klingons. To her, it sounded like a great honor, until upon learning he was known to reject initiates for whatever reasons. It had been no surprise but still hurt when she had her turn but found it in her to wisen up and toughen enough to reenter and get everything she ever dreamed of.

Curzon died, and the symbiont was hers. Upon joining, Jadzia _Dax_ felt like she was a new person altogether, and nothing different about her except the sensation of the memories of the ones before her, even the man who mentored and rejected her. She did not lose sight of who she was, but what she was now was an even more intelligent being with seven generations of experience to guide her through her destiny.

One main goal was to never return back to Trill. It was because of the haunting of Curzon's elimination. However, the reason she put up with his memories was because of Benjamin Sisko, his pupil who saw him as another father figure. A part of Jadzia had felt jealous as she was supposed to have looked up to Curzon that way if he hadn't been the kind of man he was. But what had been done had been done. Curzon did not stop her anymore from changing from the timid but dedicated girl she had been to a vibrant, confident young woman passionate for life.

"In order to know who you are, it's important to know who you have been." Her words to live by, which made it all the more easy.

And then a certain handsome young doctor, new to the field, had walked into her life. He was charming and eager for adventure as she was, but the moment he revealed the depth of his...infatuation, it was like Jadzia could hardly breathe. He was coming too fast that the only easy solution was to remain just friends. Several times he wanted to take her to dinner, but even though she wanted to, she declined. The hurt in his eyes was evident despite his understanding smile.

However, Jadzia also found she enjoyed him hunting her. It was like a challenge to her, and she enjoyed it very much. A wild deer chased by the hunter for food, lean and graceful with great speed only to miss the arrows. That deer wanted to be chased only to see how far her pursuer would try and give up.

And gave up was exactly what Julian Bashir did. But as it turned out, she missed it. It felt like a part of her was alone internally, missing a great opportunity.

She was currently in her quarters, staring at her reflection and her hair loose from its ponytail, contemplating it all, after recent events. Dax, the symbiont, had been very ill recently that the memory was overbearing enough she could never stop thinking about what transpired...Jadzia's memories. Not Jadzia Dax, but Jadzia _herself_ as a person. Opened her eyes to something she had been missing out on all this time.

~o~

 _"How long have you had these cramps for?" Julian asked her as he looked over the results on his PADD, his brow creased with utter concern. "It also shows shortage of breath and vomiting."_

 _"Two weeks," she answered, laying back against the bio-bed. "I'm sorry I didn't go to you sooner, Julian. I thought it had to do with menstruation or something. But it's been longer than a week..." She stopped there because she had no idea if she was simply rambling. Dax never rambled, except for Torias. She inhaled as another onslaught of enclosed breath filled her lungs. The panic attack she had in Ops was the last resort to finally see the doctor and find out what was wrong with her if not Trill menstrual period which lasted a week, longer than human females._

 _"Jadzia, I don't think menstruation has anything to do with this. I'm getting a destabilization in the symbiont with these symptoms." His face was grim and - frightened. "Dax is ill."_

 _This was what she had been dreading most. If Dax was sick, then she might be in danger yet again of rejecting the symbiont. This time she might not be so lucky. She closed her eyes and inhaled through her nose. To think that, at thirty years old and having the symbiont for three years, she was losing her life so Dax could go to another new host..._

 _"I won't let anything happen to either of you." Julian's hand had come to rest on top of hers, generating the comforting warmth she really needed. "If the symbiont is sick, then so are you. But if I'm going to save the both of you, then I have to...remove it from your body, Jadzia, and perform the procedure."_

 _"Oh, God." The very mention brought back that one time the symbiont had been removed and placed into another host which had never meant to be. She could never forget Verad's fear and loneliness, the confusion...it made her feel like the small girl she used to be and hated being that way. She had almost forgotten what it felt like to be just Jadzia again, but now she was getting a third chance - it scared her now and seemed to scare Julian as well._

 _After a symbiont was removed, the host had hours to live, and the symbiont itself never lived long without its host especially after being joined for the first time. This meant extreme measures and extreme caution, but she was putting her fate into Julian's hands._

 _"I'm sorry to tell you this," he tried to apologize._

 _"Don't; just get right to it. Do what you have to."_

 _"I will," he promised, "but before I do, I need to know something just in case -"_

 _Jadzia wanted nothing more than to tell him to just put her under and begin the operation, but her abdomen clenched again that she tried not to whimper. "What...is it?"_

 _"I stopped chasing you because you're a friend, and I did not want to lose a friend, but after everything we have been through, my feelings for you have not changed."_

 _He did not need to say any further; she knew what he was trying to tell her, and now was not the time to be afraid, and she was having enough trouble breathing as it was that he no longer had that effect on her. "Julian, just kiss me and put me under."_

 _Her eyes had closed for him to obey, and the last thing she felt was the feel of his lips before her senses fogged over._

~o~

As a doctor, his life was dedicated to saving others', but when he was young, before he was even at the first decade, he wasn't the most bright amongst the rest of the children in his classes. He had always thought he disappointed those around him, even his own parents, simply because as a little one, you were bound to make mistakes and in the event of time, learn from them. That hadn't been the case with young Julian Bashir, then known as "Jules" to Mother and Father, who altered his life forever just as he turned seven.

That one trip to Adigeon Prime changed the course of his life forever.

After two months of the treatments, it was as though the intelligence that burst from his mind was like a flower bud blooming last and becoming the most beautiful out of all the ones that surpassed it. His IQ was no longer below standard. His physical build and stamina naturally enhanced, but unlike most genetically enhanced beings, he appeared out of the ordinary and otherwise gifted. Mum and Dad were proud of him for that, but as he grew into a man and the star student in school, their relationship was never the closest of families.

His first experience with medicine when he was at the ripe age of ten involved a sick girl on Invernia II, during an ionic storm with his father present. The memory of the failure to save her became the pivotal moment in his decision to be the one to never feel that helpless again and save the life no matter the cost. Why didn't those idiots around her know that a local herb could have saved that child? She had been too young, had been kind enough to shelter him and Richard Bashir from the depths of her heart.

Just because he ultimately decided to become a doctor later in his life did not mean that he was not afraid of them when he was young. They seemed to read right through you, know your every secret, and would make you sick all because you didn't listen to them. But his fears were unfounded as he learned about medicine, how to use it and control it, and eventually became who he was now.

Though, back then as a maturing adolescent, he thought he became a physician only to please his parents if not as a professional tennis player as sports were also his forte.

He could not say he was ever lucky in the love department.

His first love was a ballet dancer whose father offered him a position in Paris, of chief of surgery under five years, but that meant no career in Starfleet for Julian, and chief of surgery in a regular life would not have gotten him very far. He had been forced to give her up even though she was everything he ever wanted. Melora had been short-time while he oversaw the care of walking on her legs again, before she left Deep Space 9 to return home.

And now Jadzia Dax.

He remembered being captivated on sight the first time he saw her, thinking a goddess had walked into his presence. He had almost missed the spots which set her apart from a human female, taking in the leopard-print pattern running from both sides of her face, starting at the hairline and going downwards and disappearing beneath her uniform - and the unexpected thought entered his mind: how far along down did those spots go?

He could have sworn he was getting too far ahead of himself when he found himself fixated on the Trill, learning her name eventually as Lieutenant Jadzia Dax, and he couldn't help himself. She was so... _beautiful_. Gentle and commanding at the same time, standing tall with her hands clasped behind her back as she strode, always smiling easily and never stiff.

Julian Bashir might have found the newest girl of his dreams.

She easily accepted him as a friend, which grew as they worked together at Deep Space 9, but not as a girlfriend. He wasn't ashamed or afraid to ask her out, but he didn't want to be just friends with her. Of course he did, but could he help if she was always on his mind? Always in his dreams? Always treating him like a person?

He'd thought he was going to lose her a few times, losing a new opportunity that might be his last. First to a trial involving the mislead conviction of the late Curzon Dax, then removing the symbiont to a "cheated" host only to give Dax back to her - and now the symbiont suffered that he thought third time would be the charm. To lose Dax meant losing Jadzia, the host dying hours after the symbiont was removed.

By removing Dax meant getting to know the unjoined side of Jadzia.

~o~

 _"Julian?"_

 _She had awakened after the symbiont was removed; the sedative wore off that it might be fate giving him the chance to get to know the woman without the worm in her abdomen. He was so far stabilizing the symbiont beside her, so Jadzia got to see him take care of the one thing that changed her life. "How is it?" she whispered._

 _"Stabilized for now," he answered calmly. The worm's tail twitched faintly, pale gray and shining with bodily fluids, but responding to his careful hands and the medicines. He hesitated to ask her. "How about you?" If it was the same as it was when the symbiont was first taken from her for Verad..._

 _She wrapped her arms around herself and held the gray sheet close to her body, her shoulders bare and showing more of the double-sided pattern of spots, stopping - the sheet was blocking it - above the curves of her bared breasts. The sight was delightful, but the look on her incredible face was anything but the word itself. "Empty, like the last time," she whispered, on the verge of crying. "I feel so lonely...again."_

 _He smiled reassuringly. "It won't last."_

 _"Tell that to my hormones."_

 _She meant to make it a joke, and her jokes were always his highlight, but this time she didn't want to, and he wasn't sure he wanted to, either. "I don't seem to remember asking you, but...have you always been so emotional, not confident in yourself, before you were joined?" In all their talks together, he actually did not remember her once mentioning the complete tale of her childhood - and he never once told her about his own life either. Not even his secret genetic enhancement that would condemn not only his Starfleet career but also his parents. That meant losing all he had, including her._

 _Jadzia smiled weakly. "Always have been. But I worked hard to prove myself, but it was Curzon who destroyed it all when I was nearing completion of the initiation. I wanted so much to be joined that I knew then and there I didn't need anyone to help me, that I could do this alone. I was the first Trill to ever reapply. I despised it all on Trill, the entrapment while I was fighting to get away from it, just to get joined...I thought my whole life would have been all for nothing but a waste." Her eyes squeezed tight._

 _This Jadzia was softer, more vulnerable without the symbiont, like she had been in younger years. Like Julian had been unintelligent as a child before his parents took him away to have everything about him enhanced. She hated being home as he hated being around his own parents, except she might miss her family unlike he. He had never known this about her and it made him a little jealous to know she had a loving family to supported her. "Was anyone in your family ever joined?" he asked._

 _"Not once." She shook her head, some strands of raven hair falling over her shoulder. "And they're content without it, but they're proud of me. I still talk to them sometimes, but I don't see them much anymore."_

 _Julian nodded, looking back down at the worm on the table before him. The pain waves were subsiding, and seeing it made him partly wish that things were different with Trill physiology, that the Dax symbiont could be saved but given to another host so he could continue to get to know this unjoined Jadzia that made him love her more because she was fragile. "I have not seen my parents ever since I left home to become a doctor. We're not close. It's been a...long time since I actually had someone who...loved me."_

 _"I don't think I ever had a love of my life, as simply Jadzia. Six lifetimes before me have, but not me myself."_

 _He almost lost his concentration and cursed for it, to himself. He felt like something inside himself was melting more than he had all this time. The Jadzia Dax he first met and worked alongside with all this time had been so much work and expecting so much, testing him but also treating him well - he found he loved this one better, but by denying her the one thing that she fought for her whole life meant losing her. He'd be denying himself the one person he wanted all this time, too. By putting Dax back in after it was well, this Jadzia would be gone. They would be back to square three, having gone halfway around the cube already._

 _"Jadzia, everything I am learning about you - not the Dax I have grown to know," he added softly as the symbiont began to wriggle and show him that it was feeling a little better, "I'm going to lose this one I have gotten to know so well. I've fallen in love with this one who has so much more in common with me than I thought before."_

 _He was looking back at her when he said this, and her face was twisting as though trying not to cry. "Julian, I love you, too. I felt like I was suffocating when you kept coming at me, but I think I was...scared at the time. But what scares me most of all is if I don't have Dax back, I'm going to lose you."_

~o~

She'd said that she'd be more scared of losing him if he did not put Dax back into her upon curing it. Dying scared her in that moment he had poured his feelings for her. Julian had the heart of a warrior despite his boyish charm, the courage to save a life. Curzon enjoyed his life amongst Klingons, the challenge and history in Jadzia's blood inherited from him, but she wasn't Curzon anymore.

Days before, Julian Bashir saved her and the symbiont, but nothing much changed after she told him she needed time to think about what he told her, that she needed space. Space to think, to breathe and relax, take it like a woman. Vulnerable, unjoined Jadzia remembered melting and weeping like when she was a child who needed her parents during a storm, when Curzon humiliated her and dampened her spirits, when Verad's emotions were passed onto her, when she shoved down Joran to the recesses of her subconscious but otherwise accepted he was a part of her...

Why was she denying this part for herself? She'd gotten everything she ever dreamed of: friends, a career...adventure. And a friend and colleague was ever interested in her, respected her, but he also might be the first one she could ever get a shot at for true happiness. Now that Jadzia thought of it, she _was_ missing an important part of life. She was thirty years old; how much longer would she have to find someone to share her life with?

It was late, but here she was, in her sleepwear and before Julian's quarters. She had nothing to be scared of, but what if Julian was already asleep and might get grouchy? Her hand moved alone and buzzed the door. Moments later, they opened for her to step in. There stood Julian in his sleepwear himself, the shirt drawn open to show muscled golden skin, his dark hair all over the place.

"Jadzia, this is a surprise," he said with a slight smile which faded quickly as he hurried over to her. "Is something wrong?"

"Kind of." She clasped her hands in front of her instead of behind like she would on duty. "Julian, I've been thinking about what you said that day...about us..."

His face lit up. "Jadzia -"

She held up her finger to his lips, silencing him. "You don't have to say anything. I think we both know what's going to happen next."

She moved up and pressed her lips against his, kissing him and pushing her body up against his. The impulse stemmed from Curzon, but it was also all her. Curzon had a new woman every week, the feeling the same, but it was all her. Perhaps the desire was all she could thank him for. Running away and unable to breathe made her burn in every part of her body that she was tired of trying to escape. Her hands cupped Julian's face before tracing the outlines of his ear and going up to caress his soft black hair. He felt so soft beneath her fingers that touching him made her heart pound faster than before. Her skin burned when his hands began to move, too, caressing her body and exploring her for the first time. Jadzia moaned against his mouth and swayed her hips back and forth as she pressed deeper into him.

His hands had been pausing on her hips, and now she felt her skin chill when the fabric of the bottom of her nightshirt lifted up until her entire back was bared for more of his touch. Her mouth removed itself from his as she sighed when his touch sizzled her skin. Julian's hands moved around and rubbed her firm stomach, and she jumped when she felt his fingers trace the spots on her sides. They were sensitive as the peaks of her breasts and the little flesh between her thighs which sensitized with more of her moist heat coming to the surface. She wanted Julian's fingers there, but there were more parts of her body she wanted him to touch, and she wanted to explore his, too.

"Your spots are sensitive," he said, amazed. "How far down do they go?"

She grinned and answered by pulling off her shirt. "See for yourself."

His eyes had a glaze to them that might as well match his watering mouth. Her breasts were full and pert, the dark pink tips already hard, and the spots downwards on the outside curves, continuing down south and disappearing beneath her pants, which she shoved down and answered his question. "All the way. Would it take forever to count how many exactly you have?"

Laughing, Jadzia put her hands on both hips and said, "Are you going to spend all night teasing me?"

" _Me_ , teasing _you_? I think right now is the other way around!"

She motioned him over with one hand. "Then you have your turn, Doctor. Wouldn't want to keep your patient waiting, do you?"

Moments later, he was naked as she was. He had a wonderful musculature, his hips defined, and he was hard between the equally strong legs. "Mmm, Julian," she purred, walking up and running her hands over his chest, the skin smooth and moist. "So strong."

He chuckled deep and leaned down to kiss her again. "How would you like this to go?"

"You're the doctor; you know a lot about biology. You should know how to do this."

His hands were caressing her sides and their spots again, sensitizing her again before cupping her breasts and massaging them. She closed her eyes and relished it; the firm strokes and squeezes were delicious and shooting down between her throbbing thighs. She pulled him close to her again, feeling his thick length nestle against her and exciting her. Her hands caressed his strong back and firm rear end, which he was very sensitive about - she had only done that to tease him, nothing more.

"Maybe enough teasing and heading straight for the bed."

She loved his masculine talk and let him lay down first, but as it turned out, he let her take the lead only to flip her over so she was on her back and he assumed control. That was exactly what she expected: him letting her guard down and gaining the upper hand. This had now become a fun and exciting new challenge for the both of them in their newfound relationship.

 **Early on, I researched, the crew had the concept of a love story between Jadzia and Julian; it was simple love and at that, in which the symbiont became sick and therefore its host did as well, and Dr. Bashir had to separate them to treat the Dax symbiont. It was supposed to be then that we learn who Jadzia is as a person instead of combined with Dax, in which Julian falls in love with THAT person instead of the joined Dax he knew. But knowing how important it is in life to be joined with the symbiont, Bashir knows that by saving the symbiont and placing it back into Jadzia, he loses the one he falls in love with. It was a very touching concept, and I think it's a bummer that they never got together. I ship her and Worf, but I'm taking the departure to make sure it's her and Julian Bashir. :)**

 **The story is also named after a composition piece of by Adrian Von Ziegler, "A Red Sun Sets".**

 **Read and review. :D**


	2. Estranged

**I have no idea how long this story will be, but it will be either five chapters or underneath, and the core is very deep. :)**

Chapter Two

Estranged

 _One year later..._

Adorning her finger now - THAT finger - was a ring glimmering gold and designed with a filigree of flowers and leaves around a brilliantly cut diamond clear as ice. She smiled proudly as she held her hand up one more time, for the hundred thousandth time and admired the way the gold shone more brilliantly than latinum and the diamond glittering brighter than any star in the galaxy.

"Still at it, aren't you?"

"I can't help it, Nerys," Jadzia said with a laugh as the major, one of her best of friends, sat down before her, raktajino in hand. "Julian picked it out very well." It had been six months since Julian proposed to her, and they'd known each other for almost four years. There was the threat with the Dominion, but it did not stop them from planning their wedding in a couple more weeks, taking place on Risa.

Kira reached over and traced her finger over the intricate band around the Trill's finger. "At least he has good taste. I wonder what it's like to get married besides everything you've told me about your previous hosts - what it really _feels_ like. I love Edon, but we're always separate I wonder if it's even possible."

"You might get that chance," Jadzia assured her, reaching over and putting her hand over the Bajoran's. "It's really not that bad. I've been through five weddings, and this is Julian's first. I'm just looking forward to the day after the...exhausting planning." She leaned back and sighed heavily. Planning a wedding for her had been a little tiresome, as she had been through a traditional Trill ceremony three times as a bride and two as a groom. Julian had been helping with the plans with the exception of the dress which Kira and Leeta helped her pick out, and so did Ben and Jake. It lived up to the old Terran tradition of "bad luck to see the bride before the wedding". Her spots tingled with excitement that she could not wait till he saw her that day.

"I'm glad I could be of help." Kira grinned. "And Risa? That sounds plausible, even for a resort planet known for its loose..."

"Oh, not for us! Curzon had the time of his life there, and now it's my turn. Arandis has been looking forward to hosting the space and the party afterwards."

"And wasn't Arandis Curzon's last lover before he died?" the major asked with a slight furrow of the brows as she sipped her raktajino. Jadzia smiled.

"She was. He died a happy man."

"And Julian approves of this?"

Dax couldn't help but laugh again. "It's not like he's ever jealous of me. We know where we stand - as long as those voluptuous Risian women keep their hands where they belong, and the same goes for him, too," she said with a devious edge. "With the exception of the bachelor party. Last night as a single man requires tradition."

"Which mean I, your maid of honor, get to plan _your_ bachelorette party."

~o~

He and Miles never seemed to tire of darts at all during their friendship, and right now was no exception now that the chief was telling him about how Molly wanted more attention - or rather, equal - now that she had a new baby brother in the picture. Miles was doing all he could to spend time with his daughter so she wasn't left out.

Julian wasn't sure about this parenting life-work given the feedback from his friend all the time. Being a father was about placing too much time and too many compromises, as selfish as the thought sounded. "Still," O'Brien said after another toss of a dart at their "lucky board", "it's all worth it. You'd made a great dad yourself, Julian."

The young doctor shook his head. He just couldn't see himself as the parenting type, even though Jadzia wanted a baby someday of her own. Maybe it was because his own was a great weight on his own shoulders. And a father's work was NEVER done. Miles did not know of his dark secret, either, no matter that they shared everything.

"Dr. Bashir, I presume?"

He looked up at the sound of his name. There stood a strange man, bald and robed in gray. "That's me," Julian answered suspiciously. "Who's asking?"

"Dr. Lewis Zimmerman, director of Holographic Imaging and Programming at the Jupiter Research Station, and I intend to make you, doctor...immortal."

Julian had heard of the Jupiter Station; it was prominent for its research and development facilities as it lay in orbit of the planet Jupiter. Now its director was here with the intentions of making him... _immortal_? He was baffled to his core until the matter was soon taken up in Captain Sisko's office. It was then and there he learned that he would soon have a holographic version of himself when he could not be everywhere when needed.

"You're familiar, of course, with the Emergency Medical Holographic program," Zimmerman stated as he sat before the captain, with the doctor behind him.

"I've heard of it," Sisko replied. "It's a hologram designed to provide assistance to emergencies in sick bay."

"Correction, it does much more than provide assistance."

Bashir picked it up from there. "A holographic doctor," he explained, "can literally replace a starship's medical officer during emergency." He supposed that would be necessary to have himself in two places at once, maybe more, if he could not always be there to help; that would be an excellent possibility, but he wasn't sure he could say the same for the man in charge of it all. He might be overstepping the boundary of judge of character.

"I'm surprised you didn't have one on the station." Zimmerman didn't seem to know before he arrived that the station was Cardassian in origin that wasn't compatible with Federation equipment and technology. The director of EMH called this "unfortunate". "In any case, the original EMH program was designed for short-term use only but now Starfleet requested full-time use designed to operate as a full-time doctor."

Both Julian and the captain exchanged a look. Surely he wasn't talking about replacing _real_ doctors? They calmed when Zimmerman assured them no. "Why is everyone so worried about holograms taking over the universe?"

"There are many situations where a holo-doctor could be more beneficial than a humanoid: research outposts, subspace communication stations, even long-range exploratory vessels."

"You're right about all of that, doctor, so in short of that, anywhere that life support or living space at a premium and where the primary mission does not require the doctor to leave sick bay."

And in short, they now wanted to model this new EMH program after Dr. Julian Bashir. Technically, it was called LMH - Long-term Medical Holographic program. Julian was selected for the template now because the original had been Zimmerman himself because it was his program and only seemed logical, but no longer did that decision stand.

Sisko was pleased. "It's quite an honor, isn't it?"

Julian wanted so much to say it was, but common sense always taught him better than to take an "honor" too lightly. He might be excellent in the field, but honors came and went beyond his control. "Oh, yes, it is...quite the feather in my cap, sir," he said, less than enthusiastic.

"The EMH will still be used for decades to come, but the LMH will undoubtedly last far longer than that." Unless certain technical problems could be fixed. It was all too good to be true.

"How long will you stay for the programming of the template?" Julian asked, restraining from shifting foot to foot. He had a wedding coming in two more weeks, and he could not have him longer than that.

"I'll remain here for at least two weeks."

That was longer than he and Jadzia and the rest needed to go to Risa! "Dr. Zimmerman," he said, "surely it can be completed sooner. I have a wedding in two more weeks that cannot be pushed down from the planned date."

The man turned to look up at him and gave him a small smile. "Congratulations, doctor. I look forward to meeting the lucky lady over the course of two more weeks - which I will do my best before the date. Or we can always continue the technical modifications wherever the services are being held."

Continuing the work on Risa was not how he envisioned the biggest day of his life which also happened to be Jadzia's. He was about to object when the captain stood from behind his desk. "Doctor, my First Officer Major Kira will see to all your needs." He knew full well how his own Chief Medical Officer did not like the fact it might go into the time of his upcoming marriage, but this was a great opportunity he might not ever get again. Pleased with the decision, Dr. Zimmerman smiled and nodded.

"Congratulations, doctor," Sisko said, shaking his hand. "I know I speak for everyone on the station - including your fiancée - when I say that we're really proud of you."

~o~

Out of all of the questions Dr. Lewis Zimmerman had it in him to ask her for Julian's questionnaire, it had to be if her fiancée came onto her with unwanted advances! But Jadzia only smirked and responded very coolly.

"No, but he was very persistent. I enjoyed being chased like a wild deer by a hunter just to see how far he would go until he gave up, and then I would be the one to make my mind up and go to him."

"He saved your life several times," Zimmerman stated and wrote that down, obviously enough. "When was it that you both decided you were meant for each other that you two are getting married in a couple more weeks, Commander?"

Jadzia was tempted to throw another wit. "Well, Dax the symbiont was sick and had to be removed, and to keep it short, I was back to the way I was before I was joined, so Julian got to know my softer side more. Turned out we had more in common than we both thought originally. I'm over thirty now but I felt like I was missing something else in life. When am I ever going to get another chance in this life, you know, doctor?"

That was just about it, then, and days later when the first week was ending, she looked up as soon as two people entered Ops, calling for Dr. Julian Bashir. "Excuse me," Jadzia called, "but Dr. Bashir is meeting with Captain Sisko."

The couple looked middle-aged, somewhere close to Middle Eastern origins from Earth, somewhat decent, but the man's dark hair was dominated by grays more than his wife's was. "Oh, I apologize for the both of us," she said, "but we need to see Julian, if you're so kind to take us to him."

Now that she looked at them more closely and realized the depth of how badly they wanted to see her fiancée, Jadzia realized they must be his _parents_. And he said that he had not spoken to his parents in years. Why were they hear? Unless Dr. Zimmerman invited them against Julian's wishes. She swallowed and agreed to take them both into the captain's office. He was not going to like this...

"I'm sorry to interrupt, sir," she said quickly, "but there are a couple of visitors who are looking for Julian and I thought he might want to see them right away."

"Well, send them in." Benjamin was curious enough to know who these visitors were, but as soon as they were in eyesight, Julian was far from enthusiastic.

"Oh...my God," was all he said.

"Hello, Jules," his mother said, still smiling when she walked up and gave him an embrace, but his return of the gesture was forced. Jadzia wished there was something she could have done but knew there wasn't, and - did she just call him _Jules_?

"Uh, Captain," he said when his father embraced him and got that over with, "allow me to introduce Amsha and Richard Bashir...my parents."

Benjamin was taken aback as he never met Julian's parents or even heard him speak of them, but introductions were still in order. "I'm Captain Benjamin Sisko. Welcome to Deep Space 9."

"Thank you, Captain," Julian's mother, Amsha, said pleasantly. "It's a pleasure to finally see where Jules works."

Somehow, Jadzia was sparked with the hope of her husband-to-be reconciling with his parents in time for them to come to the wedding next week. Seeing a family reunite other than knowing the fact they were not close - although she realized that she did not know why they were so estranged. Her career kept her away from home not just because of the initiation rituals that made her sanity hell, but with Julian?

His father, Richard, laughed with all his charm. "We wanted to come sooner, but my schedule's been so busy up until now. I'm sure you know what that's like," he said to Sisko as he sat down.

"All too well, I'm afraid," Benjamin agreed.

"What is it you do, Mr. Bashir?" Jadzia asked, coming around to face them both, her future in-laws she finally got the chance to meet.

"Oh, I do many things. But at the moment, I'm involved in landscape architecture. Designing public spaces, mostly. I love the idea of working on projects that thousands of people will enjoy long after I'm gone. They're my legacy...my gifts to succeeding generations. Aside from Jules, of course."

He was quite proud of his accomplishments, and his wife was looking at him with such appraisal - but she could not say the same for their son. Something was troubling Julian greatly.

"You must be proud of your son," Benjamin said. "He's a very...gifted young man."

"Sometimes all it takes is a little...push," Richard Bashir said. "It took quite awhile, but we managed to talk him into taking up medicine." So, his parents were the reasons he went into medical school, and he'd wanted to be a professional tennis player before.

"Perhaps we should save that for another time, Richard. And you, Dax," Amsha said, fixing her attention on her, "Lt. Commander, we've been wanting to meet you. Getting married in one more week, and we just found out at the last minute!" Jadzia opened her mouth, but the older woman was speaking again. "But, we should save it all for another time. I'm sure the captain is a very busy man."

"After the interviews are over," her husband agreed.

Julian stiffened, troubled than ever. "Interviews?" he repeated.

"With a Dr., uh...Zimmerman. Didn't he tell you?"

Now Jadzia was convinced Julian had specifically told the doctor to NOT call his parents and invite them. Something clicked at the back of her head that Zimmerman must really be desperate to have Julian's estranged family involved in this. She could see him already considering going to the man himself and giving him the talk of his life.

Right now, Julian volunteered to see to his parents accommodations, and Sisko said it was a pleasure to meet them both. Jadzia was interested in meeting them both again only because she wanted to learn more about her future husband as a little boy that he had been too embarrassed to tell her himself - and there had to be so many of them.

~o~

How DARE Zimmerman ignore his explicit wishes to keep his parents out of this matter?! Urgent indeed! This was none of his business; he should have respected Julian Bashir's wishes.

Dinner with his parents had not exactly exciting, obviously. Awkward had been the best way to go, as the word of choice. Jadzia wanted to come, but she was busy in Ops and scheduled a lunch for tomorrow to meet with all three of them and get to know her new in-laws.

Their conversation was at its best. Trying to act casual when it never was the best, his father going on about how rude the captain of their traveling shuttle as if he'd forgotten he'd served as steward on a third-class shuttle before his dismissal - or resignation, depending on your point of view. Then it turned to the talk of his research and medicine, which had been a debate between him and his father as Julian had been the one to make the decision to go to Deep Space 9 to do frontier medicine _and_ research.

His career choice was not the only issue at the dinner table. It was his own father's; Richard always seemed to go from one career choice to the next unlike when he intentionally focused on keeping his only son at one. That had always been one of the problems, as well: coming up with a new idea instead of standing your ground and facing the problem. That was what Julian did, and that was what his bride-to-be did. He would bet her family did better than his.

The table burst when it came to him warning his parents about keeping his genetic enhancement a secret from Dr. Zimmerman as once the man found out, he was disqualified from the great honor of his own holographic image and his Starfleet career ruined. His parents would wind up in prison; Richard had the gall to assume Julian thought his own was more important than that of the two people who created him naturally but were never proud of his natural lack of youth success. The lack of trust was namely between father and son, which made Julian snap and leave the table.

"This is why I haven't been home in three years!" he'd shouted before closing the doors on them, wanting his time alone. That included from Jadzia.

He was never able to stand being in being the same room with his parents. He was tempted to change his mind and run to her after all, but he was a man. He loved Jadzia, but he wasn't a child anymore to run to someone else after a disagreement.

But he made his mind up anyway and decided to go to her quarters, knowing she might be there now.

"Julian!" She was there in her towel, her skin glistening from the sonic shower and her hair wet. "What happened? It didn't go well?"

"Perfectly not," he said begrudgingly.

She stepped aside for him to come inside. "Wait here while I get dressed," she said before disappearing into the bedroom. He sat down and exhaled sharply. Being here gave him a calm state of mind. Hers were larger than his, so he would be moving in with her - or they should get bigger ones with Sisko's permission, have more room. "So, what happened?" Jadzia asked as she came back wearing her rich purple sleep set which draped gracefully over her frame, her hair dried a little more and hanging down her back.

"Oh, just them being here!" Julian said in exasperation, slapping his hands on his lap. "To this day, there is not one element of trust in us that I can't even trust them to not reveal anything to Dr. Zimmerman in their interviews! My father had the nerve to point that out!"

She put her hand on his shoulder, which he turned his face to and kissed its back. Her soft skin calmed him more than the atmosphere of the room. "You want to talk more about it?"

He sighed. "I really want to, Jadzia, but there's still some things about me that I never told you that...you couldn't possibly accept without hating me," he confessed, no longer afraid to tell her but still fearful of her rejection, losing her, but she was a science officer. She knew the story of Khan Singh as well as he did, but it still might push them apart. But the longer you kept a secret, the harder it got - and the worse it blew because you didn't tell sooner.

She was frowning now. "Like what?"

He didn't get the chance to answer before her quarters rang. "Come in!" she called, and the doors opened to let Miles O'Brien in, looking grim and then surprised upon seeing the couple together.

"Commander, sorry, but I wanted to talk to Julian. I didn't find you in your quarters," he said to Bashir, "but you got to hear this."

"I'll go?" Jadzia offered, but Julian wanted her here. He knew what had happened now, and he was ready to blow up than he did in front of his parents, but he needed Miles' help - and what he said was worse than he expected.

 **I thought it appropriate this time around to have Jadzia involved in on the talk as I could not think of a better way for her to find out about her fiancée's genetic enhancement, and to figure out her reaction was even harder as I knew she could not break up with him for sure.**


	3. Unnatural

Chapter Three

Unnatural

"How could you set them up like that?" Julian roared at Miles, who had let loose the entire story as well as learning what he had been trying to tell her. She could understand why he never told her before, why no one knew before and it was immoral - in their eyes and the law because of Khan's tale - and she was more shocked than angry.

Julian Bashir, the man she thought she knew over the last three years and was getting married to next week, was _genetically engineered_. Just...like...Khan.

"We didn't set them up!" O'Brien protested as he spoke of how Julian's parents came to apologize for their actions and words, not realizing that it wasn't their son they had been speaking to - and therefore let it spill that they had his DNA resequenced as a child, unexpectedly telling it to Dr. Zimmerman and Miles with him. Miles had made haste to tell the man involved first before the doctor took action. "They just happened to walk in while the program was running. Zimmerman thought it would be a good idea to test the program's ability to cope with an unexpected situation."

"And you let them GO! You let them stand there and make fools of themselves while the two of you sat in the back room and laugh?!"

Jadzia had enough of this. "Okay, you two, this is enough! The both of you wish it hasn't happened, but it HAS," she ground out, wishing it never happened herself because she knew how much Julian cared about his entire career now - and them. But he was not the only one at stake; his parents were implicated in this.

"I'm sorry, Jadzia," Miles said to her with a bow of his head before looking back up at Julian. "But now we've got a problem." That problem was not only the fact that his life was in danger - it was the dark secret behind it. Which she wanted to know now more than ever.

But her fiancée was now being stubborn. Now that was the last thing she expected. "I don't want to talk about it."

She was tired of this being kept a secret. She wasn't leaving him for this, but she would leave him if he did not tell her unless he wanted to risk everything. "Julian, I've just about had it with this! Zimmerman is going to file that report unless you tell us!" she shouted, her heart hurt more than everything else. "'Dr. Bashir is unsuitable for computer modeling because of his genetically enhanced background'," she quoted, not funny at all.

" _Suspected_ genetically enhanced background," Miles corrected her, then turned back to his friend. "Do you know what's going to happen when he files that report and gets it to Starfleet Medical?"

He slowly turned back around, grim and knowing, nodding slowly. "There's going to be a...formal investigation. Which will lead to my eventual dismissal from the service."

O'Brien had not wanted to believe it, but now he was beginning to see it as she did. "Then...you're..."

"The word you're looking for, Miles," he said coldly, "is 'unnatural', meaning 'not from nature'. 'Freak' or 'monster' will also be acceptable."

He sat down across from them but did not look at any of them, especially her. She was hurt more than before, wanted to comfort him now and sit beside him, hold him to her, but he didn't want it. Miles seemed to sense it and shook his head. But she couldn't stand him feeling sorry for himself, debasing himself for what he was; she would _not_ call him those words he put out.

"I was six; small for my age, a bit awkward physically and not very bright. In the first grade when the other children were learning how to read and write, use the computer, I was still trying to tell a dog from a cat to a house from a tree. I didn't really understand what was going on, but all I knew was that I wasn't doing as well as my classmates. There were so many concepts they took for granted that I...couldn't begin to master. And I didn't know why. All I knew...was that I was a great disappointment to my parents. I don't remember when they made the decision, but just before my seventh birthday, we left Earth for Adigeon Prime."

He had been scowling bitterly the entire time, and it was now that a slight smile began to form. "At first, I remember being really excited at seeing all the aliens in the hospital, and then they gave me a room and...began the treatments - and my entire world began to change."

Jadzia took her time to take in his learning and mental disabilities as a child - and only six years old without the time to watch him grow and improve naturally - disappointing his parents and understanding why, and then his whole life changing over months of illegal treatments. "What were the treatments, some kind of DNA recoding?" Miles asked.

Julian laughed and scoffed at the same time, briefly. "The term is 'accelerated critical neural pathway formation'. Over the course of the next two months, my genetic structure was manipulated to accelerate the growth of neuronal networks in my cerebral cortex...and a whole new Julian Bashir was born." Now he was speaking as though he were high and mighty and did not deserve to be that way. "And do the both of you want to know how they changed me? My mental abilities were top priority, of course. My IQ jumped five points a day for over two weeks, followed by improvements in my hand/eye coordination - stamina, vision, reflexes, weight and height. Everything but my own name was altered in some way. And when we returned to Earth, we moved to a different city." He moved from the chair to the window and looked out at the stars.

"I was enrolled in a new school using falsified records my parents obtained somewhere. But no longer was I the slow learner; I was the _star_..." His face fell into its original grim state. "...and a fraud, as far as I am concerned. I never once looked back after the treatments, but the truth has remained with me."

The hell he was a fraud. She and Miles both knew that because they knew him well than just this change in his DNA living with him since a young age. He was not a fake; this change in his configuration ordered by his own parents did not give him the ambition and compassion that truly made him more human than he was. She was looking directly at him while the chief lowered his eyes; Julian was softening up, but he was still doubtful.

"Starfleet Medical won't see it that way."

DNA resequencing of anything other than birth defects was illegal, therefore barring the being from serving or practicing medicine, but - "There hasn't been a case in a hundred years," Jadzia said fiercely. "You don't know for sure how they will take this, Julian."

"Oh, that's where you're wrong," he snapped. "I'll be banned from the service."

Miles was not ready to give up, and neither was she. He stood with her so they both stood over him; he was still sitting down before the window, defiantly lifting his chin at them like a stubborn child. "There MUST be something we can do; we can't just give up!" O'Brien insisted, but Julian stood and turned his back on both of them.

"There is something I _can_ do: resign before Dr. Zimmerman files his report."

"Oh, Julian!" Miles exploded, fed up with this now, but not any further than Jadzia's fury at the man she loved giving up without a fight. This was not the Julian she knew to give up just like that.

"Julian, you are not!" she started furiously, but he held up both hands for them to quiet.

"Miles, Jadzia, it's over. I always knew this could happen, and now it has. Jadzia," he said, turning his attention on her now, calm at her righteous visible anger, "I love you more than anything in the universe, and that will never change. But now that you know what I really am, maybe it's for the best we did not get married now that I am to resign my commission. I won't be chasing after you anymore; I just want you happier than you are with a ruined, unnaturally enhanced freak like myself."

He leaned over and gave her one last kiss, which she willingly but begrudgingly accepted before pulling away and ordering him to get out of her quarters, and for O'Brien to go with her. She wanted to be alone now and cry her heart out.

~o~

"I think you're making another one of the biggest mistakes of your life, letting that woman go," Miles told him as soon as they were outside his now ex-fiancée's quarters. But Julian was done with trying to be stopped; his mind had been made up, and he had never thought more rational than he did now.

"I've made my mind up, and now I'd like to be alone, Miles," he said before walking away from his best friend.

His mind was warning him that it agreed with Miles, that he was walking away from the best thing that ever happened to him, but how could he have a future with Jadzia while his career and life was going down the drain because his secret was getting out? He could not keep his decision from his parents now, knowing where this would lead - but he would gladly take it like a man.

Just like Miles, Richard was not going down without a fight. "We're not going to just take this lying down, that's for sure," he was saying as he paced back and forth while Julian bitterly sat beside his mother. "I'll arrange for legal counsel. We're going to fight this all the way to the Federation Supreme Court. And Jules," he said angrily when he saw his face, "you'd better change that attitude right now if you want to hang on to your career. Even hang onto that woman of yours, who I personally think you made another mistake breaking off the wedding with just for this." Now he sounded like O'Brien, and so was Amsha.

"Jules, listen to your father," she said softly. "He's trying to help you."

Just like he TRIED to help him in the past. He jerked from her tender touch. "Neither of you are listening to me. I don't want this dragged through the courts."

"We're a little beyond worrying about your wants, Jules," Richard said warningly. "An even more serious problem here that we have to stop the whining and concentrate on coming up with a new plan."

He huffed. This was it, what he expected his father to say. "A new plan," he spat. "Let's come up with a new plan - that's the way this family has always worked, isn't it? We don't face our problems but come up with _new plans_. Don't like your job? Move onto the next one. Don't like the law? Well, find a way to get around it. But whatever you do, do not accept responsibility." His mocking of the lacking in the family made Richard advance on him and Amsha shift a distance away.

"All those gifts, all those accomplishments, and you still want to behave like a spoiled child!" his father shouted. "Well, you better grow up right now or you're gonna lose everything."

"You mean, YOU'RE going to lose everything!" Julian fired back. "You're going to lose you're only real accomplishment in this life - me. You said before to Captain Sisko and to Jadzia in front of me that I'm your legacy, your proud gift to the world. Well, Father," he sneered, "your gift is about to be revealed as a fraud...just like _you_." Talking to him like that was a mistake, but he did not care. He said it as it was, and even Richard knew that, but he was still holding himself together.

"I'm still your father, Jules, and I will NOT have you talk to me like that."

"No, you _were_ my father. Now, you're nothing more than my _architect_. The man who designed a better son...to replace the defective one he was given. Well, your design has a built-in flaw. It's illegal."

Richard looked like he wanted to strike him very much; well, if he wanted to, then go ahead. "You're so smart," he hissed, "you know so much you can sit there and judge us, but you're still not smart enough to see that we saved you from a life of remedial education and underachievement!"

He wouldn't have known that, when Julian was only six years old! "You didn't give me a chance to let me grow and judge me by then. I might have fallen behind, but I was six years old. You decided I was a failure when I was only in the _first grade_. If you ask me, _Father_ ," he said, raising his voice as he stood and circled his failure of a father, "you are the one who doesn't understand. I stopped calling myself Jules when I was fifteen and found out what you did to me. I'm _Julian_!"

"What difference does THAT make?!"

"It makes _ALL_ the difference, because I'M different! CAN'T YOU SEE?! Jules Bashir died in that hospital because you couldn't live with the shame of a son who didn't measure up!"

Richard was done arguing with him, so he turned his back on his son, but his mother was not done and now had her turn, heartbroken and angry at the same time. "That is not true," she gasped sharply. "We were never ashamed of you - never."

He did not want her soft, patronizing words. "I'm sorry, Mother, but the truth is -"

She interrupted harshly. "You've _never_ had a child, and I don't know if you will ever have one with _her_ because you can't stand how we raised you ourselves." Her lined face softened with her voice. "You don't know what it's like to watch your son and watch him fall a little further behind every day. You know he's trying, but something is holding him back. You don't know what it's like to stay up every night worrying it was your fault, that you might have done something wrong during pregnancy, that you weren't careful enough - or maybe there is something wrong with you. Maybe you passed on a genetic defect without even knowing it."

Something inside him cracked even though he lowered his eyes as his way of telling her that he was agreeing with her. He wasn't a father, he didn't have children and had no idea what the burden was truly like, and he could now imagine Jadzia feeling this way if she were in Amsha's shoes. To want a child only to find something wrong when you didn't expect it...maybe he DID judge his parents too harshly.

Richard, hearing his wife's speech, softened and turned around, trying to get her to stop now, but she insisted it was important. "You can condemn us for what we did, say it is illegal or immoral, but you have to understand we did not do it because we were ashamed...but because you are our son, and that we loved you and still do."

~o~

She had considered taking off her ring, but when she did the first time, her hand felt naked - like she'd lost Julian forever, which she might as well had. They were so close to being happy and starting the rest of their lives together, but he was going to hand over his resignation soon and then she'd never see him again. Where would he be now that he was going to Captain Sisko now? Knowing him, he planned to leave quietly.

She was in Ops, having not told Kira about any of this - yet - when she looked up and saw him come in, then quickly looked down to avoid eye contact. It was childish, but necessary. She just wanted to avoid as much contact as possible, until he left the station for good.

But then, Ben's voice sounded on her comm badge, requesting she come into his office. She frowned, and when she reached the door, she had just joined Julian there; Ben must really want her there because she was important in Julian's leave. They were not alone, either; both his parents were there as well as the hologram of Rear Admiral Bennett, Judge Advocate General of Starfleet.

"Your parents came to see me this morning," Ben said to Julian. "They explained everything about your genetic background. I contacted Admiral Bennett a short time ago."

 _"And we've reached an agreement, doctor,"_ the admiral spoke, _"which will allow you to retain both your commission and your medical practice."_

"And I'm going to prison."

Jadzia couldn't help but slap a hand over her mouth. He - Julian's father was accepting responsibility and going to prison to save his son's career! She couldn't say entirely it was brave, and Julian was as shocked as she was. "What?!" they both exclaimed.

"Two years," Richard Bashir answered. "It's a minimum security penal colony in New Zealand."

Two years minimum was hardly enough to prevent Julian from stepping in, but the decision had been made by both his father and the rear admiral. _"He pleads guilty to illegal genetic engineering in exchange for you to stay in the service."_

"No!" Julian burst. "I'm not going to stand here while my father -"

 _"Julian."_ That was the first time Richard had spoken his son's name in respect for who he was now, not as he was back then. "Listen to me one last time. This is MY decision; I'm the one who took you to Adigeon Prime. I'm the one who should take the responsibility for it."

Julian was still considering backing out on this, but Amsha begged him to let his father do this - for him. Jadzia stayed behind with Ben as they both watched the exchange, even listen as Julian asked if two years was too harsh, to which Bennett shook his head. _"Two hundred years ago, we tried to improve the species through DNA resequencing, and what did we get for our trouble? The Eugenics Wars. For every Julian Bashir that can be created, there's a Khan Singh waiting in the wings - a superhuman, whose ambition and thirst for power have been enhanced along with his intellect. The law against genetic engineering provides a firewall against such men, and it's my job to keep that firewall intact. I've made my offer, and you've accepted. Mr. Bashir, you may report to my office at Starfleet Headquarters once you've arrived on Earth."_ With that, the hologram linked out, leaving Amsha to embrace her husband, and Julian looking down with guilt on his face.

"You want to be in here with them, old man?" Benjamin asked her softly. She nodded, knowing this was also time for her and Julian to make up now that they both knew they were not over. But she also wanted to be there for him when he said good-bye to his parents now that his father was going to prison. Sisko walked up to Julian and assured him to take his time, leaving them in what was left of peace.

Jadzia accompanied them to the airlock, where she was surprised to learn that there were visiting hours at the facility and that Julian would be able to visit more often now that they made up. Richard would be going away, but that meant Amsha would be back and attending the wedding of her son next week, still on. Her new mother-in-law would be there, but it might not be enough without her father-in-law. And her own family was being arranged to come to Risa.

She looked back at Julian, seeing the contented smile that he had made peace. But that left one more thing. "Oh, Jadzia, why are you still with me?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, baffled.

"Well, I'd made it loud and clear that I'm unnatural and a freak, called off the wedding because I thought I was going to resign, but now that things are going back in the direction as before -"

"Oh, stop that. I love freaks with intellect," she said proudly, walking up to him and wrapping her arms around his neck, kissing him long and passionately even in front of those passing by them for the airlock. "How about I show you how much I love you...later?" she asked when she pulled away, winking.

"Give a chance to reveal to me _your_ biggest secrets with me now?"

"Oh, don't turn that onto me! If I'd had any, I'd let you know." Another kiss was shared.

 **"Doctor Bashir, I Presume" is one of the best episodes I've ever seen and where we finally learn what our good doctor really is. Alexander Siddig really did enjoy this revelation in that time. :) It was intense, emotional, and yet warm and heartfelt.**


	4. Jubilant

**And now the final chapter, with elements from another fave, "Let He Who is Without Sin...". :) Enjoy.**

Chapter Four

Jubilant

The _Defiant_ was never taken from Deep Space 9 to any event not related to business, but now was an exception for the next two days on the paradise planet called Risa, and no one could be any more excited for the happy couple.

He was certainly looking at the fun to have the day before the wedding. His last day as a single man, and Miles had decided to throw them a bachelor party, to which Jadzia had no objections to, the advice coming from two grooms' past experiences. But that also meant bride and groom needed as much time alone together before the night fell, and they would go separate ways for their last single night.

"I thought I'd bring everybody something for refreshment!" Leeta, Rom's new girlfriend, chirped as she pranced in, handing everyone each a raktajino, Tarkalean tea for Julian himself, and of course nothing for her own boss, Quark, who angrily protested her service to him. "Get it yourself; I'm off-duty."

"You shouldn't be serving us while we're on vacation," Jadzia told her over her given raktajino, which she clinked with Major Kira and cheered a happy new life that Leeta joined them in, despite having nothing for herself.

Quark snorted and scoffed after her. "Well, she got me nothing," he complained, much to the annoyance to them all and even to Odo as usual, but then his face split into a grin, "but at least I got everybody some presents, including the bridal pair themselves. Be right back!" He zoomed off the bridge and vanished to the back, coming back with a large bag in hand, and began to take out what looked like little wooden hand-held statues - and then Julian immediately recognized what it was, provoking blushing from Miles and Odo not knowing what it was. Even Captain Sisko was trying not to laugh, along with Jadzia and Kira. The rest of the families were in the back, including Keiko and the children as well as Jake, and Nog was on the bridge - but his nose twitched upon knowing what the symbol was, too.

"Oh, a _horga'hn_ ," Julian spoke. "A Risian symbol of fertility. Means that you're seeking... _jamaharon._ "

"Oh, Curzon told me about this once," Benjamin said, exchanging a somewhat awkward glance at Dax, who simply shrugged while suppressing a grin. "To hold one of these up -" He held his own statue up. "- means you're seeking the practice of _jamaharon_."

"What exactly is it?" Leeta asked curiously, looking between Rom and his brother. Quark sniggered while his brother simply looked down shyly. The room had gotten awkward as everyone seemed to get the meaning altogether.

"Well, I'll show my bride as soon as we get there," Julian said coyly as he nuzzled into her neck just to make Miles groan and turn away, Nog roll his eyes and turn his attention back to the console, the major giggling and following his lead and even Odo managed a chuckle, which left Quark to shake his head and retreat back into the cabin space, pulling his "idiot" brother along with and Leeta trailing after them.

"Well, you certainly got the crew going about this 'mysterious sexual practice'," Sisko told them both, unable to keep himself from grinning.

"You should try your luck while we are 'busy' then, Benjamin," Jadzia told him, waving her finger.

"Not a chance, old man. I'll enjoy my vacation getting the massage of a lifetime, a dive into the lagoon, but no women in my bed. Not when Kasidy is in the picture." The whole bridge was wracked with more groans and laughs than before. This was going to be a _long_ trip, Julian thought with a laugh of his own before allowing his fiancée's mouth to cover his.

~o~

"Ah, it's good to be back," Jadzia said with a sigh as she looked around Risa. It was paradise like she remembered, through Curzon. The air still smelled sweet, the winds warm, and the sound of laughter as the visitors enjoyed their time - as well as the Risian females walking around with the symbol of their planet on their foreheads.

"If old Curzon could have brought me here," Benjaimn said after an inhale of air, his arm around Jake's shoulder. The young man's eyes widened at the sight of the two lovely women of Risa passing by them only to pause directly in front of them. "Jake-o," Dax heard him say, "I know what you're thinking, and the answer is no _jamaharon_ for you."

"Aw, Dad, it wasn't like that at all!" Jake protested, though laughing.

"Welcome to Risa, the lot of you!"

The great group was greeted by a striking young woman with rich brown skin and dark hair, wearing the symbol of Risa across her forehead. Jadzia immediately recognized her and flew with joy. "Arandis, it's been a long time!" she said, embracing her old friend from the last life - she was Curzon's old lover, as she told Nerys.

"Dax, is that really you? You look even better than last time I saw you."

Ben cleared his throat, getting both women's attention. "Oh, I'm sorry!" Jadzia said quickly. "Arandis, these are all my friends, family and colleagues. This is Captain Benjamin Sisko, a very dear friend of mine and Curzon's, and his son Jake. This is Chief Miles O'Brien and his wife, Keiko, their children Molly and Kirayoshi - this is Constable Odo and Major Kira Nerys. Quark, Rom, Leeta, Nog - and of course, my fiancée, Dr. Julian Bashir."

"All of you, welcome to Risa, where your pleasure is our pleasure," Arandis said, beaming proudly and gesturing around them. "Feel free to have all the fun you want - and those seeking _jamaharon_." She laughed with everyone else when little Molly O'Brien asked what _jamaharon_ was, and her mother said it was something fun that adults liked to do that she wasn't allowed to see, simple as that. "Your rooms have all been prepared, so enjoy your stay and tomorrow is the big day." Her attention proudly shifted to the bride-to-be in front of her and her groom right next to her. "And it's a pleasure to finally meet the man himself, doctor. You're quite a handsome man, and Jadzia - you're a lucky woman, alright." She winked.

"Curzon was lucky to have you at one time, wasn't he?" Benjamin asked, despite the fact his son was still there, but Jake was old enough to understand these things. The O'Briens were gone now to find their rooms and then take the kids for some fun, but Odo and Nerys remained.

"Last time to have _jamaharon_ \- before it killed him," Arandis answered, half-joking. Ben's hand covered his mouth to stifle his laughter, but Jake looked baffled and disgusted at the same time.

" _Killed_ him?"

"He died a happy man, Jake," Jadzia told him. "That should be enough said. Arandis, this is Jake's first time here, so don't have him exposed to _jamaharon_."

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it. A young man not experienced with such things - unless his father objects."

"Oh, no objections from me," Sisko answered, both hands held up. "I completely trust my son."

They were all showed to their separate rooms, the bridal couple getting one of their own which took her breath away. The windows were currently open, the sheer white curtains fluttering in the breeze, and everything was pristine white with some splashes of color in the furniture. In a couple places on the walls were the symbol of the _horga'hn_. In the middle of the coffee table and the rest were exotic flower arrangements with orange flowers, birds of paradise and bamboo stalks. "So, what do we do now before we go our...separate ways before tomorrow?" Julian breathed as he took in the beauty around him. "So many opportunities of heading out to the lagoon, the beach, having a fine massage..."

Jadzia laughed as his back was facing her. While on board the _Defiant_ when everyone was changing into their beach wear, she donned a sleeveless purple dress with a gracefully draping neckline and ending at the knees; purple was her favorite color, rich and regal. Beneath the dress, she wore absolutely nothing and planned everything herself while being careful to not let Molly or Jake see her. "I have something better than all of that, for now." She had tugged the thin straps from her shoulders and let it fall, pooling around her feet and leaving her bare in front of him. Seeing this as he turned around, Julian laughed as he looked her over from head to foot. He was never able to resist her, and she was excited for some fun in the bed, surrounded by sheer curtains and ocean breeze coming in, luscious fruits and flowers - she could go on forever.

Swiftly, she turned onto her heel and marched for the platform elevated bed and flopped onto the silk-cotton covers, laying on her side and facing him seductively with one hand underneath her head to elevate it and her other on her side, smirking as she watched him hurriedly undress himself so he could join her. Beside the bed were two tropical drinks layered from top to bottom with soft green to yellow and red, garnished with a slice of yellow fruit - but both were too busy with each other, drawing the curtains behind them.

~o~

Never did she think she'd ever have a bachelorette party for herself; who knew what the guys would be up to - maybe Risian women were involved after all, and Julian as well as married Miles would learn to keep their hands to themselves. The children were tucked in for the night and left to watch over by one of Arandis' trusted sitters at mother Keiko's request as she needed a break for the night to have fun at Dax's party near the lagoon.

She was in her favorite purple dress with the ruched bodice she always saved for a special occasion with her special three-tiered diamond earrings - and the necklace Julian gave her earlier. It wrapped close to her throat that she never wanted to ever take this off, not even when they got back to DS9; it was a twisting double layer of opalescent colors of light purple, gold, light blue and clear to carry the memories of Risa always. She kept reaching up to touch it and always find it was there, even though she didn't need to constantly check.

Jadzia was having more fun than she expected to on the night before her wedding. But then again, she always had in past lives on Trill. Had she married a Klingon, it would have been brutal to go through the future mother-in-law to earn a respectful place in the household. She got to play with the drums for awhile before leaving to dance with Nerys and the other ladies - Jake and Nog were allowed to come as they were not yet fit for the mature bachelor party that Julian and the rest of the men were having now. Both moons shone bright above them and their firelit celebration, the water a rich indigo accented with an orb and streamlines of silvery waves. The phosphorescent flowers came out and added to the energetic atmosphere.

However, halfway through the party, Jadzia began to feel a little overwhelmed than needed. Perhaps she should start pacing herself after her discovery she made earlier after Julian left to be with the men for the rest of the day. She had been keeping this a secret for the past three weeks, getting a tester herself with the help of Nurse Jabara as she felt nervous to tell Julian since he was afraid of being a father - and now that she finally tried it in the bathroom after he left, she began to panic and went straight to Kira and Keiko.

"You're going to be a great mother, Jadzia," Keiko assured her with a smile. "You were a mother once, weren't you?"

"Three times - except I wasn't successful," she admitted. "Who's to say I won't be better than any of them?"

She huffed. "It's hard work, but it's worth it," she said cheerily, but while Kira agreed, there was a faraway look in her eyes as she seemed to be thinking about when she gave birth to Kirayoshi after surrogate term only to give him to his family. She couldn't imagine how that felt for her friend.

She and her friends danced the night away until twenty-four hundred hours when it was time to retire now. She had her dress and everything saved by Kira, so she would be staying the night in her friend's room until they awoke in the morning to get ready. The ceremony would be in the afternoon, but a woman needed more time to get ready than the man did.

When Jadzia awoke, she felt calm and relaxed as the planning had been worth everything - but the pit of her stomach tightened as she tried to think of how to tell Julian she was carrying his child in front of all their friends. She knew him well to know he wouldn't throw a fit, but she needed his support on this. This was a big step in their lives now. The sun rose and set, one day changing into another - you can never stop change any more than you could stop the sun from its cycle.

"Jadzia, don't you look amazing," Nerys said as she stood beside the bride now in her dress whilst wearing her own; it was a rich beach color known as coral, sleeveless and plunging softly with gentle ruffles. Now the bride herself looked at her own reflection, seeing the woman she would be presenting herself as to her husband-to-be waiting for her outside. The glimmering white satin hugged her upper body in the right places, the neckline accenting with dazzling crystals and more along the right hip in a starburst pattern. The skirt itself was slim but flowing gracefully while showing off her hourglass frame. Her dark hair was curled and pulled back, set with fresh white orchids. Around her neck were the crystals from her fiancée.

This was her moment now.

When she walked outside with Kira walking her, as Ben would be performing the ceremony for them as he was her dearest friend, the sight greeting her was a vast field of emerald and trees, with a clearing parted to show the lapping crystal blue ocean and pristine white shoreline. On the edge of the green was an arch flowing with the same white flowers in her hair, surrounded by a total of less than thirty guests, keeping it as intimate as possible. The "minister" himself and her husband were standing there, waiting for her as she expected. Seeing Julian handsome and smiling like a child again giddy for his new toy made her try not to burst out laughing.

"As a member of Starfleet, it is always an honor and a privilege to marry two people you have known for a long time in front of you," Benjamin said as soon as she took her place before him and Julian, taking the latter's hands into her own and looking him in the eyes, "because you feel a tremendous responsibility for them, even knowing how much they are willing to sacrifice in the name of love, to give and receive in return, face many obstacles together - but in the end, it is all worth the shed of blood and tears."

She found it hard to keep a tear in; it was wrong to let the idea of hormones kicking in, because Ben's words were sincere and real. She looked back up when Sisko went on. "Do you, Julian Bashir, take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife, in sickness and in health, till death separates you?"

"Yes, I do," Julian answered without a beat of hesitation.

"And do you, Jadzia Dax, take this man to be your lawful wedded husband, in sickness and in health, till death separates you?"

"Yes, I do," Jadzia whispered.

"Then all who are witnessing know that you are now husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

They had done it! They were married, and they were both happy to be spending the rest of their lives together. Just think that they had been simply best friends, he fell for her so fast and chased her so fast but resulted in her life at risk a third time which made her realize life was too short to avoid the one thing right in front of you - and look where they were now.

The reception took place when the sun was beginning to set, and the lanterns overhead suspended from the trees were lit, the glow reflecting off the sweet white tables set with exquisite centerpieces of orange, blue and white paradise flowers, the party kicking off for all of them, and this was when the new Mrs. Bashir decided now was the time to tell her husband the good news - IF he considered it good.

"Here's to you, Mrs. Julian Bashir," he said with a broad grin as he returned to her with their fruit-infused drinks.

"And to you, Dr. Julian Bashir," she returned, clinking them together. She had been extremely careful to not drink any alcoholic beverages the last couple of weeks, which he had noticed himself and finally decided to ask her, setting the reaction off for her.

"Jadzia, you want to tell me something?"

She nodded. "I'm pregnant, Julian."

His face did not change, only that he set his drink down, but his expression clearly read "Are you sure?" He didn't say the words out loud, but she was damned sure. "No," he protested, "I didn't mean it that way. It's just...a baby." He immediately shifted from uncertain to joy - he had actually reacted the opposite of what she expected that it made her try to conceal the sobs that escaped her when he picked her up and spun her around in an embrace. "Jadzia, this is the most wonderful news in the world!"

The music stopped playing, and all attention was on them. "We're having a baby!" Jadzia shouted, prompting a pause of stunned silence before it broke out into cheers of happiness from every single one of them, and then a dance for celebration was called for. Husband and wife joined everyone in the middle of the lush grass to the exotic, festive drums and tribal singing of a new life beginning. Overhead, the sun was turning into a soft gold amidst a rich pattern of shades of red and purple as it set below the horizon. It had risen as red and was now setting as red, for the passionate and powerful bond between the two people on this very day that marked the beginning of the rest of their lives.

 **The end could not have turned out any better than I expected, and I have no regrets. And nothing but good references to another beloved, "You Are Cordially Invited". :) Read and review.**


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